Tories vote to brand themselves incompetent

By Ian  Dunt

Welsh Conservatives voted to call their own party incompetent yesterday, after a "whipping mistake".

Assembly members mistakenly voted with Labour and Plaid colleagues to back a motion calling the Westminster government "incompetent" for its handling of the West Coast main line.

"This was a whipping mistake and does not reflect the views of the Welsh Conservative group," a spokesman said.

"Our contributors to the debate made our position clear congratulating the UK government on its commitment to electrification, which represents the single biggest infrastructure investment in Wales in decades."

The government was recently forced to U-turn on its decision to hand the rail franchise to FirstGroup, in another embarrassing row for the coalition.

Assembly members in the Senedd vote by pressing buttons on  their desks.